Maya Harris

Maya Harris [Maya Amber Harris / Maya Owda] claimed that she was denied entry into Israel, has spread conspiracy theories and expressed support for a terrorist. She has also defended anti-Israel agitators and demonized Israel.

As of June 2, 2019 Harris was a reported member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)-Twin Cities, Minnesota and as of 2015, Harris was a member of JVP in St. Louis, Missouri (JVP St. Louis). 

As of 2014, Harris was also a member of the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee (STL-PSC).

As of August 2019, Harris’s LinkedIn page, said that in 2008 - 2012, she was a coordinating member of the Mid-East Solidarity Project (MESP) at TESC, which reportedly became known as Evergreen Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in 2013.
 
Harris is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and according to her LinkedIn page, was a coordinating member of TESC Divest!, a student-led BDS group that “worked to make divestment...a reality at The Evergreen State College.” The group appears to be defunct since 2014.

As of August 2019, Harris’s LinkedIn page said she graduated from The Evergreen State College (TESC) in 2012, with a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Community Development. 
 
Harris was reportedly married to fellow BDS and anti-Israel activist Murad Odeh in 2016. As of August 2019, Harris’s Facebook page said the couple lived in “Bethlehem, WestBank.” In May 2018, Harris told the reported manager of United Way of Tanana Valley, Alaska that she and Odeh would be “moving back to US in a year to start my husband's citizenship process and my masters!”

As of August 2019 Harris used the names “Amber Harris,” as well as “Maya Owda” on Facebook.

Denied Entry to Israel

In August 2019, Harris spoke [00:19:46] as an invited guest at a news conference held by United States Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. 

Harris was introduced by her middle name, Amber, as someone who would speak about her experience with the “impact of travel restrictions” on entering Israel. 

Harris opened her remarks, telling [00:19:56] the audience she was a “Jewish, U.S. citizen” married to a Palestinian man who was living in the U.S. on a J-1 visa.
 
Harris claimed [00:20:39] that she was held and interrogated for 10 hours by “the Shin Bet” and that [00:21:00] “they yelled at me for being a human rights activist and environmentalist” and that she was [00:21:13] “forced to sign documents in Hebrew, saying I was banned for ten years.”

Harris then said [00:22:17] she was able to return to Israel soon after, traveling through Jordan, via the Allenby Bridge. Harris recounted that the border officer there told her [00:22:34] she was being banned because she “participated in violent riots and protests” and was being allowed only into the West Bank, not “Israel proper.”  

Spreading Anti-Israel Conspiracy Theories  

On October 25, 2012, Harris claimed on Tumblr that the Israeli military tortured Palestinian children to death in prison and then “confiscated their bodies for organs.” Harris went on to write that Palestinians “have to fight for their Martyr’s bodies so that the Israeli Military doesnt steal it for organs. [sic]”

On April 14, 2013, Harris promoted an anti-Israel zoological conspiracy theory that “Israel sent wild hogs and hyenas into the fields” of Palestinian farmers, claiming: “[t]he hyenas attacked the farmers and their children and the hogs destroyed their crops. The farmers who killed the hogs then cannot eat them because they are Muslim. So they lose all of their crops for food and livelihood to kill an animal they cannot even eat.”

Harris added: “By the way, our tax dollar probably helped fund those pigs and hyenas.”

Expressing Support for a Terrorist

On November 12, 2013, Harris posted to Tumblr a photo of herself holding a poster of support for Rasmea Odeh. The caption read: “#isupportrasmea #freerasmea DROP THE CHARGES ON RASMEA!

Odeh was a key military operative [00:02:08]with the terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In 1969, Odeh masterminded a PFLP bombing that killed two college students in a Jerusalem supermarket. Odeh also attempted to bomb the British consulate. 

Odeh confessed, in a highly detailed account, the day following her arrest. In a 2004 documentary, one of Odeh’s co-conspirators directly implicated [00:10:53] Odeh as the mastermind. 

In 1970, an Israeli court tried and convicted Odeh for her involvement in both bombings and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, Odeh was released 10 years later, in a prisoner swap and emigrated to the United States.

On November 10, 2014, a Michigan federal jury convicted Odeh for immigration fraud because she failed to disclose her prior conviction and life sentence on her immigration application. On March 12, 2015, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison. 

In 2017, after an appeal and a lengthy court battle, Odeh admitted to immigration fraud, was stripped of her U.S. citizenship, deported to Jordan and banned from re-entering the U.S.

Harris commented in her November 12, 2013 Tumbler post in support of Odeh: “This is about a US Citizen and her human rights. This is about discrimination against a women who is honored by the Chicago Cultural Alliance for the ‘Outstanding Community Leader’ award for being Palestinian. Stand up for justice! Her trial is in Chicago tomorrow! Take action Now! #palestine #freedom #humanrights.”

On May 25, 2019, Harris posted to her second Facebook account a portrait of Odeh.

On May 26, 2019, Harris posted to Facebook photo of herself wearing a T-shirt with a graphic featuring both Odeh and Angela Davis. 

Davis made the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List in 1970, after being charged as a principal in an aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder of a judge.

Defending Anti-Israel Agitators

On August 17, 2012, the Rachel Corrie Foundation (RCF) Facebook page posted a photo and testimonial from Harris on the anniversary of Corrie’s death. 

Harris held a sign that read: “Justice for injury and killing of our human right defenders” and the caption read: "I #RememberRachel Corrie forever & she lives on inside me & my actions towards justice for #Palestine" ow.ly/d1Pzz #tumblr.”From 2010-2012, Harris interned with the Rachel Corrie Foundation.

RCF was created to honor the memory of Rachel Corrie, a former International Solidarity Movement (ISM) member who was accidentally killed while interfering with an Israeli military operation in 2003 during the Second Intifada. A wrongful death suit brought by Corrie’s family was dismissed when the judge ruled that Corrie unreasonably chose to put her own life in danger.  

On July 20, 2019, Harris posted a photo to Facebook with a graphic of Ilhan Omar and the hashtag: “#IStandWIthIlhan.”

In July 2019, Omar introduced H.Res. 496, referred to as a “pro-BDS” resolution, which Omar described as “an opportunity for us to explain why it is we support...the BDS movement.”

Demonizing Israel

On July 14, 2014, Harris shared a graphic on Tumblr with the text: “KEEP ANGRY AND F**K ZIONISM.” On the same day, she posted another image on Tumblr with the words: “Zionism is not healthy for children and other living things,” commenting “[h]ad this as my profile picture. Love it.”

Also on July 14, 2014, Harris shared a post on Tumblr by a user named “momo33me” The post referred to Israel’s Operation Protective Edge (OPE) against Gaza, that read: “What’s happening in Gaza is a massacre. #Israhell is earning it’s name with every minute. #tearsofgaza #gazaunderattack.”

Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.  

On July 11, 2014, Harris posted a selfie on Tumblr, alongside a note that read: “I am a 23 year old Jewish American and I stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. I am enraged at Israel for taking my Jewish name in vain and using it for the justification of the genocide of the Palestinian people.” 

On July 14, 2014, also during OPE, Harris posted photos onto her Tumblr, featuring her husband, Murad Odeh and others at a protest with the caption: “Vigil for #Palestine in St. Louis #stforpalestine organize by Palestine Solidarity committee St Louis! #GazaUnderAttack.”

On March 28, 2013 Harris shared an image on Tumblr with the caption: “The Tel Aviv #sea from my balcony. The Apartheid Sea that only travelers and Israelis are aloud [sic] to see. My West Bank friend can only see it in their dreams.”

On March 30, 2013, Harris shared an image on Tumblr with the caption: “Hotel view in #Haifa . The gray sky gives tints to the idea of vacation in an #apartheid state.”

On November 23, 2012, just after Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense (OPD), Harris borrowed from anti-Israel writer for Al-Jazeera, Ramzy Baroud and described Israel on Tumblr as a “colonial country that has been implanted in the heart of the Middle East to serve a grand imperialist project, backed and armed with the same western benefactors and financiers who plotted its inception as they continue to contrive and defend its current crimes.” 

Israel launched OPD to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Gaza. Over the course of eight days in November 2012, Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israel. The majority struck Israel, damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas. Human Rights Watch noted: “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim.”

Harris went on to compare Israel to a “rapist,” a “thief” and a “murderer” and asserted that Israel had no right to defend itself.

Harris also maintained that “Gaza is not even allowed, by the international community, to have a legitimate government. When they vote someone in, we put higher sanctions and more restrictions.”

Anti Israel Activism

On May 25, 2019 Harris made her Facebook cover photo one of her marching in a protest behind a sign that said: “From Palestine To Ferguson End Racism Now.” Harris was also holding a photo of Rasmea Odeh.

On March 20, 2015, Harris protested with members of St. Louis JVP at an event called: “Ferguson to Ayotzinapa to Palestine: Solidarity and Collaborative.” 

Harris held a sign that read: “St Louis Jew Against Zionist Bullying #SelectiveHistory.” In another photo featuring Harris, the caption read: “Standing with SIUE [Southern Illinois University Edwardsville] Students for Justice in Palestine.”

In July 2014, Harris was one of three JVP St. Louis members reportedly ejected by police for disrupting a talk by Israel’s then-Consul General to the Midwest, Roey Gilad, held at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in St. Louis.

In October 2012, Harris wrote on her Tumblr account: “I’ve decided that I want to volunteer with Youth Against Settlements and help teach English and participate in their protests, actions, etc.” 

YAS, an anti-Israel NGO based in Hebron, has posted photos on its Facebook page that propagate anti-Semitism, laud rock-throwing and urge its members to participate in violent anti-Israel demonstrations.

In January 2015, Harris was reportedly a regional coordinator for the St. Louis Interfaith-Peace Builders (IFPBRegional Chapter. 

Eyewitness Palestine, formerly known as IFPB until 2018, is an anti-Israel NGO that organizes activist delegations to Israel and the West Bank.  

In October 2012, Harris was a delegate on an IFPB trip to Israel.

BDS Activism

As of August 2019, according to her LinkedIn page, Harris was a coordinating member of TESC Divest! between 2011 and 2012.

Her LinkedIn page said that she “helped coordinate fundraising, educational and tabling events. I coordinated and publicized Actions and stood as a representative for the club. I facilitated and documented meetings. I recruited club members and brought awareness to my campus of our club and our cause. I networked with other clubs and helped build a coalition base both on and off campus.”

On June 2, 2019, Harris reportedly represented JVP-Twin Cities, at a meeting of the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) and “called on the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) to divest from Israeli companies that violate international law and profit from the occupation of Palestine.”

BDS

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true. 

One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”  

Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”

In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.

Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.

BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.

JVP

JVP was founded in Berkeley, California in 1996, as an activist group with an emphasis on the “Jewish tradition” of peace, social justice and human rights. The organization is currently led by Rebecca Vilkomerson and its board members include Israel critics Naomi Klein, Judith Butler, Noam Chomsky and Tony Kushner.

JVP, which generally employs civil disobedience tactics to disrupt pro-Israel speakers and events, consists of American Jews and non-Jewish “allies” highly critical of Israeli policies. A staunch supporter of the BDS movement, JVP claims to aim its campaigns at companies that either support the Israeli military (Hewlett-Packard) or are active in the West Bank (SodaStream).

Although several Jewish groups critical of Israeli policies, like J Street and Partners for a Progressive Israel, make efforts to operate within the mainstream American Jewish community, JVP functions outside. The group is often criticized for serving as a tokenized Jewish voice for the pro-Palestinian camp and is widely regarded as the BDS movement’s “Jewish wing.” 

JVP denies the notion of “Jewish peoplehood” and has even gone so far as to refer to its own Ashkenazi (Jews who spent the Diaspora in European countries) leadership as “white supremacy inside of JVP.”

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused JVP of being “the largest and most influential Jewish anti-Zionist group in the United States,” and said the group “exploits Jewish culture and rituals to reassure its own supporters that opposition to Israel not only does not contradict, but is actually consistent with, Jewish value.”

The ADL also claimed that “JVP consistently co-sponsors rallies to oppose Israeli military policy that are marked by signs and slogans  comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, demonizing Jews and voicing support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.”

According to the ADL website, JVP “uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of anti-Semitism and provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility.”

Social Media and Weblinks

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/100002144650874

https://www.facebook.com/100037354532169

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/maya-harris-9ba0a463

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/gardenjardin/ [Private]

Tumblr:http://jardingarden.tumblr.com/

Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/mayaowda/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/harmay12